This Wednesday, March 21, 2018, file photo shows the Facebook logo on a smartphone in Ilsan, South Korea. Facebook has agreed to pay $40 million to advertisers who said it inflated the amount of time its users watched videos. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) --
Facebook has agreed to pay $40 million to advertisers who said it inflated the amount of time its users watched videos.
The San Jose Mercury News says the California-based social media giant denied any wrongdoing in a lawsuit settlement. The settlement notice was filed Friday by the plaintiffs in Oakland federal court.
Advertisers sued Facebook in 2016 over user metrics that supposedly measured the average length of time consumers spent viewing posted video ads. The lawsuit said that the time was inflated by up to 900 percent and that helped convince advertisers to buy Facebook's video advertising services.
Facebook publicly acknowledged an error in the formula. The company denied allegations that its engineers knew about problems for more than a year and did nothing.
The Walt Disney Co. logo appears on a screen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Aug. 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Disney's Hulu + Live TV and sports streaming service Fubo are combining in a deal that will also see the settlement of a lawsuit against the creation of Venu Sports.
Fubo and Hulu + Live TV both allow customers to stream live broadcast and cable networks on their connected TVs, mobile phones, tablets, and other internet-connected devices.
The combined company, which Disney will have a 70% stake in, will operate under Fubo's publicly traded company name and be led by Fubo's existing management team. Fubo and Hulu + Live TV have a combined 6.2 million North American subscribers.
Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will still be available to consumers as separate offerings once the transaction closes.
"This combination enables us to deliver on our promise to provide consumers with greater choice and flexibility," Fubo CEO David Gandler said in a statement. "Additionally, this agreement allows us to scale effectively, strengthens Fubo's balance sheet and positions us for positive cash flow."
Disney has committed to a $145 million term loan to Fubo in 2026. There's also a $130 million termination fee payable to Fubo under certain circumstances.
Disney said it will also enter into a new deal with Fubo that will allow Fubo to create a new sports and broadcast service that features Disney's sports and broadcast networks including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS and ESPN+.
The companies said that Fubo has settled all litigation with Disney and ESPN related to Venu Sports, the sports streaming platform that was planned by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. Fubo has also settled all litigation with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.
In August a federal judge granted Fubo's motion for a preliminary injunction against... Read More
